I was a little worried I would end up eating some of my words after the
initial gush about Ultima Underworld, but after exploring the first floor of
the Stygian Abyss my hopes are high that this will not be necessary. I will
divide the post into two sections: Adventuring and Mechanics to separate the
story of my travels with discussion about the game itself. These adventures
have revealed some things I really like about the game and others that don't
sit as well with me. However, none of these are serious problems and tend to
pop up in most old games.
The Adventure
When I last posted, I was flying very high while exploring Level 1 of the
dungeon and had stopped after mapping about 30% of its layout. I continued the
project by swimming up every branch of the river that runs through the dungeon
and investigating any shores I was able to wade onto. What I did NOT count on
is this little swim delivering me directly into the backyard of the Grey
Goblins! When I emerged from the source of the river at the far north of the
map, drenched in slimy water, I opened the first door I encountered and found a
room full of the things. Remembering the advice of the human I found I was
immediately on guard, but they did not attack me. In fact, the goblins seemed
to be relatively intelligent.
After chatting to a few of the grunts wandering around, I actually had a
chat with the leader of the Grey Goblins who was quite pleasant and also a bit
under his wife's thumb. I did not find much equipment, but I was very
interested in the implications of my discovery. In many old games, including
famous ones like Baldur's Gate, intel you receive on potential enemies is
mostly correct save for plot twists that may occur. I was not expecting to get
a biased or even racist opinion that held no real consequences besides that of
bringing believability to the world. The goblins had captured Bragit and held
him, but they didn't attack me. Had he done something to them? Was he not what
he seemed? Was there a misunderstanding? It also allowed role playing options
such as trying to pry information out of the leader, lying about having talked
to the Green Goblins, and other interesting choices. I kept honest and said I
had not spoken to the other groups and was given a little background on the factions.
[Just like trying to get my buddy on the horn.]
After talking to the Grey Goblins, I decided to visit the Green variety that
were just as amiable. I discussed the history of the groups with their leader
and learned that both the humans and goblins were commissioned to colonize the
abyss. Unfortunately, the leader of the expedition was killed leaving each
faction to fall apart without guidance causing the current situation. I found
the grave of this leader, Korianous, and several nearby items including a
strange resilient sphere. I'm sure these will come into play later. I was also
able to convince their chef to reveal his special recipe for "Rot Worm
Stew". Yum.
Getting to Korianous’s grave was easy and involved the jumping puzzle
PetrusOctavianus mentioned in the last post. The puzzle consists of a room with
eight pillars, four of which are each a little higher than the last to form
stepping stones going up. The other four are flush with the ground and have different
textures: dirt, stone, or marble. Using levers in a nearby room, these can be
raised higher or lower to form the lower set of "stairs" allowing the
player to jump up to the highest. By simply setting each lever one setting
higher than the last this is easily accomplished. The jumps are also aided by
the use of SHIFT+J which does a standing long jump instead of having to run and
jump. Sometimes this can result in a physics bug and the player bouncing off of
walls and into pits. The standing long jump has a set distance and is far more
stable. Retrieving the rewards listed above was also a huge help. (Especially
the giant axe I got!)
[A bit of world building history to be missed if you don't talk to the goblins.]
After talking to all of the factions, including the humans, I mapped out
the rest of the level as thoroughly as I could. The only event of note was a
harrowing fight against a giant poisonous spider the Gray Goblins had been
complaining about. After defeating it (with lots of healing spells) I picked up
some of the strong thread that makes up its web. I will probably try to attach
one to a pole I have to make a fishing pole, but who knows what else it may be
useful for?
I also found the door to the shrine on the first level. Much like Ultima 4,
the abyss contains shrines corresponding to each virtue that can be prayed to
in order to increase character stats. Unfortunately, the door is locked and I
cannot find a key that works anywhere. Should I come back to this later or have
I missed something major? Anyway, having done all I can, I took one of the dark
stairways down to Level 2 to face even nastier dangers that surely await me!
[(Almost) Complete map of Level 1. Conspicuously missing the ankh shaped shrine, though.]
The Mechanics
I discussed the mechanics of movement and manipulating items a little in
the last post, but I did not mention anything about the use of the items. I
have not really had any problems using items in the world. It is easy to click
on food to eat it or the bedroll to sleep. Keys are selected and then used on
doors in the environment to unlock them just like in a point and click
adventure. One mechanic that I AM having trouble with is item degradation.
As the player uses weapons in combat or gets hit by enemies, both weapons
and armor gradually degrade. If they are completely destroyed, they disappear
from the game and a replacement must be found. I think this is a great mechanic
that stresses the importance of items and their scarcity in the dungeon, but it
could have been better balanced. Almost every swing of my weapon causes the
message "Weapon damaged" to appear in the feedback window. In one
battle with two goblins I went through one dagger and two cudgels. Since this
battle, my backpack looks more like a kitchen drawer with all the knives and
other stuff in it just in case my weapons give out. It has not caused any
serious problems for me yet, but I can imagine it being a huge problem as
situations get more dangerous. I will have to be more careful to avoid combat
unless a more permanent solution is available. It may be time to dip into some
offensive spells...
I will discuss more mechanics that interest me as they show up, but you are
more than welcome to bring up any other topics you would like to discuss in the
comments section. I am very impressed with the design of the game, so far, and
consider these minor complaints to be nothing close to serious problems for me.
What's next?
Moving down to Level 2, I have planted my silver seed and am ready to start
exploring. The level looks more like a mineshaft with wood paneled walls. I
hope it is not too mazelike, but the inclusion of an automap makes this a mild
annoyance. Stay tuned.
I have not had much time to play my other games, but I have started playing
Spec Ops: The Line after learning that it is more than just a modern warfare
shooter. I look forward to seeing what happens as I understand it is a
commentary about video game violence and goes beyond what most games attempt to
do to make a statement. Whether it succeeds or not still makes it admirable. I
just hope that game designers don't get too mired down in irony and satire as
this can lead to even bigger problems.
Follow me on Twitter (@backlogkiller) and feel free to leave any comments
or suggestions you have. I am also thinking about getting some software to
record moments of game play, but I am not sure where to start. If any of you
have any experience with this, feel free to leave a message as well.
--Backlog Killer